US complete clean sweep

The mighty Americans scored all their runs in their first at bat then finished off the helpless hosts in five innings to close the preliminary round an unblemished 7-0 while running their Olympic winning streak to 21 games.

Six of the US wins have been shutouts, five coming by way of the mercy rule, which halts play in the fifth inning if one team is ahead by seven runs.

The rout leaves the US two wins away from a fourth and final gold medal with the sport to be dropped from the Olympic programme following the Beijing Games.

Australia will face Canada and the winner will play the loser of the USA-Japan clash for a spot in the final.